At the beginning of the spring 2007 semester at Virginia State University (VSU), instructor Keith Green, Director of Public Relations at Richmond International Raceway (RIR), and course facilitator, Dr. Leon Wright Bey, who is a Professor in the Department of Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance (HPERD Department) at VSU, introduced a unique, three-credit course entitled, 'The Business and Marketing ofNASCAR' The idea for the course is credited to Dr. Michael W Jackson, Professor and Director of Graduate Programs in Sport and Recreation Administration at Temple University (TU), who suggested that his former graduate students (co-authors of this article, Green and Bey) collaborate on this project.
The class relied on the industry knowledge of Mr. Green, who has 14 years of sports marketing experience, including nearly 9 years of helping to promote NASCAR races. Bey, who has taught for 31 years, assisted him by handling many of the administrative aspects of the class.
The course included three site visits to Richmond International Raceway (RIR) during NASCAR testing and race weekend, making it more than likely the first time a course of this nature and scope was taught anywhere in the country and most certainly, making it unique to 'Historically Black Colleges and Universities.' Hosting a course ofthis nature on the VSU campus definitely elevated the profile of its sports management program.
It provided students with a board overview of the NASCAR industry through a combination of in-class lectures by the instructor, guest speakers who are industry experts and site visits to the track. Students learned ow fundamental business practices including, but not limited to, marketing, public relations, advertising, sales and technology relate to America's number two sport, NASCAR
Students also learned about the history of the sport and what NASCAR is doing to reach out and involve more minorities in the sport. Given the relevant demographics of the class, exposure to NASCAR's diversity initiatives (e.g., internship opportunities) was a particularly significant aspect of the course.
During the first class, only about a half a dozen students acknowledged ever having attended or watched a NASCAR race or of having known much about the sport. To introduce most of the students to the sport and help immediately grab their attention, a video narrated by rapper Funkmaster Flex was shown to the students. The introductory piece gave a board overview of NASCAR and how the sanctioning body is going to great lengths to involve more minorities in the sport. This was a terrific tonesetter for the class.
A brief overview of NASCAR was also given and this in turn also helped to set the tone for the class. Students were encouraged to think of the class as an open forum and to ask questions about anything related to the sport at any time. This led to some fantastic questions throughout the duration of the semester.
In-class guest speakers included members of the marketing and sales team at Richmond International Raceway; Nate Ryan, Motorsports journalist for USA Today; Ben Hamlin, the sports director for NBC 12 in Richmond and Todd Ervin, the Director of
Multi-Cultural Marketing for International Speedway Corporation, parent company of Richmond International Raceway and 12 other tracks.
Specifically, the students learned how NASCAR is big business and how the teams, drivers, tracks, sanctioning body (NASCAR), TV networks and sponsors all work together to make NASCAR a $3 billion-plus industry each year. Students seemed to have been amazed at the enormity of the motorsports industry.
All of the lectures by the instructor and information provided by the guest speakers culminated in several site visits to RIR to help the experience come full circle for the students. The students attended one of or both of the NASCAR test sessions at the track, which is a little more than a half hour from campus. They sat in on press conferences held by the drivers (even having the opportunity to ask 2006 champion Jimmie Johnson and local hero Denny Hamlin of Chesterfield questions!), listened intently as more guest speakers lectured, took a tour or Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s hauler and soaked in some of the testing action from pit road and the grandstands.
Some of the at-track guest speakers included Gary Graves from USA Today; Joe Balash, Director of the NASCAR Busch Series and Kenneth 'Lightening' Scott, a NASCAR official who is the nephew of legendary African American racecar driver, Wendell Scott.
A handful of students even took advantage of an invitation from track and NASCAR officials to attend the May 4-5,2007 NASCAR weekend at the track after the class had ended! Their participation in this regard, underscored their interest in NASCAR and appreciation for germane opportunities that Mr. Green presented during various class sessions.
Throughout the semester, students were encouraged to follow the sport by watching races on television and by periodically checking websites and newspapers that had the latest NASCAR news. The 'news of the week,' along with information contained in the class lectures and from guest speakers, formed the basis of the weekly quizzes given by the instructor. In addition to the quizzes, each student was required to pick a NASCAR topic of his or her choice and give a technology-assisted oral presentation. This was an opportunity for the students to not only learn more about many NASCAR topics, but to also help sharpen their presentation skills. The take-home final was then based on the quizzes, class lecturers and one question from each student's oral presentation.
Overall, this seemed to have been an enlightening and rewarding experience for the students, many of whom had never thought of NASCAR as a career possibility prior to their enrollment in this course. It was also most certainly a rewarding experience for the instructor, Mr. Gren, who was teaching for the first time.
'Mr. Green, who is an authority in his field, provided expert instruction for this course,' said co-author Bey. 'In fact, his extraordinarly innovative teaching style matched that of a veteran instructor, as opposed to one who had no prior classroom experience,' he continued.
The authors hereby express their gratitude to Dr. Jackson; Dr. Andrew Kanu, erstwhile Chair of the VSU HPERD Department; Dr. Weldon Hill, Dean of the School of Liberal Arts and Education at VSU; Dr. Ali Ansari, Dean of VSU's School of Graduate Studies, Research and Outreach; all student participants and guest speakers; administrators and staff at RIR; and many other indi viduals for their great support. It is largely because of Mr. Green's expertise and their contributions that 32 HPERD Department students successfully completed this historic course while gaining unprecedented exposure to the motorsports industry.
